In The Young and the Digital, S. Craig Watkins skillfully draws from more than 500 surveys and 350 in-depth interviews with young people, parents, and educators to understand how a digital lifestyle is affecting the ways youth learn, play, bond, and communicate. Timely and deeply relevant, the book covers the influence of MySpace and Facebook, the growing appetite for "anytime, anywhere" media and "fast entertainment," how online "digital gates" reinforce race and class divisions, and how technology is transforming America's classrooms. Watkins also debunks popular myths surrounding cyberpredators, Internet addiction, and social isolation. The result is a fascinating portrait, both celebratory and wary, about the coming of age of the first fully wired generation.

S. Craig Watkins writes about youth, media, technology, and society. He is Professor of radio-TV-film at the University of Texas at Austin and the author of Hip Hop Matters: Politics, Pop Culture, and the Struggle for the Soul of a Movement and Representing: Hip Hop Culture and the Production of Black Cinema.

Introduction The Young and the Digital One Digital Migration: Young People's Historic Move to the Online World Two Social Media 101:What Schools Are Learning about Themselves and Young Technology Users Three The Very Well Connected: Friending, Bonding, and Community in the Digital Age Four Digital Gates: How Race and Class Distinctions Are Shaping the Digital World Five We Play: The Allure of Social Games, Synthetic Worlds, and Second Lives Six Hooked: Rethinking the Internet Addiction Debate Seven Now! Fast Entertainment and Multitasking in an Always-On World Eight "May I have your attention?": The Consequences of Anytime, Anywhere Technology Conclusion A Message from Barack: What the Young and the Digital Means for Our Political Future The Making of This Book: Research, Methods, and Acknowledgments Notes